Planting winter garlic occurs in late autumn. The gardener picks up suitable soil, prepares shelter for the crop, and picks out safe fertilizers. Planting garlic in the Leningrad region and harvesting will allow you to stock up on a product with a sharp taste for the whole year. The differences between spring and winter garlic are in the conditions created by the gardener and the time of planting.
The taste of winter garlic is different from summer – it is more spicy and piquant. Winter varieties are grown in greenhouses (for production) or in secluded areas of the open garden.
Planting in the Leningrad Region is not much different from other regions with a similar climate. Planted crops need additional warming and fertilizing frozen soil.
Preparing for planting
Autumn planting is carried out at a time when summer crops are already harvested. The soil for garlic must be cleaned, fertilized and nourished.If in the summer the seedlings were sick with a fungus or suffered from pests, the soil is cleaned with antiseptic concentrates. You can plant in the soil:
- healthy large cloves without damage;
- the optimal mass of a suitable clove is 3 to 7 g;
- fresh cloves harvested in summer .
Soil is well fertilized before planting winter crops. Mineral and organic fertilizers are applied the day before planting. If you plant garlic without top dressing, the crop will be bitter and the heads small.
Natural fertilizers are used that are suitable for garlic and onions. Whey will strengthen the root system of the plant and protect it from fungal diseases.
Planting dates
Planting is carried out during the cooling, but before the first frost. It is recommended to plant selected cloves 3-4 weeks before frosts. If you plant garlic earlier (before the onset of frost), the tops of the plant will form, which will draw juices from the rhizome and soon die. It is also impossible to plant a winter variety later in the Leningrad Region: such seedlings will not be able to form a normal root system and will dry out by spring.
The lower the frost resistance of the seedlings, the harder the winter care will be. By the time frosts come in the Leningrad Region, the heads should take their first roots, but they will not start active growth.What time will help to plant the cloves the agricultural calendar of 2017-2018, in which the dates are set when the variety has time to grow stronger and not die from a sharp cooling: in the Leningrad Region, the planting dates are shifted from mid-September to mid-October.
Planting technology
Not all soil is suitable for planting garlic
The choice of planting soil depends on the timing of planting. In late autumn, you can not plant garlic in place of other root crops: it is better to choose the soil after cabbage and legumes. It is necessary to plant winter varieties on soil that is not flooded in spring. After winter, the landing site protects itself and shelters from drafts.
The beds are dug up a week before the landing. As fertilizers, superphosphates and potassium salt are used. Furrows up to 5 cm deep are dug for planting. A mound over seedlings is 3 cm.The distance between the cloves is at least 15 cm. If the winter variety grows in cramped conditions, it will not be possible to harvest a good crop: the root system has nowhere to grow and the heads of garlic are deformed.
There is another landing pattern for bulbs: the distance between the heads is no more than 3 cm (this distance is enough for the root system to grow correctly). Bulbs are cut on the day of planting, cloves immediately before planting in the ground. The mass of the bulb is from 130 to 270 g.For the winter variety, only large heads are selected.
Shelter for the winter
For the winter crops planted in November, do not heat up. If the planting is done on time, the cloves of the variety manage to absorb nutrients from the soil. In-depth seedlings winter well and withstand low ambient temperatures.
Cloves with a shallow root system need to be insulated for the winter: the plantings freeze together with the upper layers of the soil. Winter varieties are covered with peat or sawdust. The middle layer of insulation is 4 cm above the soil. Periodically, the insulating layer is sprinkled and tamped.
Winter care
For winter, planted varieties need special care. In spring, the soil around the sprouted garlic is mulched – fed with nitrogen fertilizers. After fertilizing, the soil is loosened (depth up to 4 cm). In spring, the culture is watered every 10 days after re-loosening the soil. Care for winter varieties includes:
- trimming excess arrows (peduncles);
- feeding the root system with ammonium nitrate;
- watering the culture (every 10 days) ;
- harvesting yellow arrows in or stalks infected with fungus.
Harvesting of garlic is carried out in August: they begin to dig out the heads as soon as all the leaves turn yellow. Correctly harvest until the green part of the arrows withers completely, if the garlic is overexposed it will become bitter and tasteless.Late harvest leads to loss of juice in the head: dry heads are not suitable for future planting.
Softening the false stem is a signal for harvesting. To obtain good material for planting, several pairs of stems are left and dug up after 10 days. In autumn, these heads can withstand temperature changes.
Tips from experienced gardeners
It is beneficial to plant winter crops in a secluded place. Experienced gardeners are advised to prepare planting material: it is good to dry the cloves or bulbs. Recommendations for planting a winter variety in the Leningrad Region:
- Date selection. Departure times are dependent on ambient temperature. The lunar calendar will help determine the date when the cloves set off in rapid growth and withstand heavy winter. The dates for this year in September are the 2nd, 7th, 27th and 30th. October is a favorable period for landing (1, 4, 13, 25). October is warm and moderately rainy. In November, crops are planted in the early days.
- Choose the right soil. The site for planting winter crops is selected special: in the last 3-4 years, root crops should not grow on it.
- The depth of the furrow. It is important to make the holes correctly. The upper soil layers will freeze in winter: the cloves will not fall, the culture will die with the first frosts.
groove depth is adjusted for the selected area. If the landing area is small, the holes should be made deeper. In autumn, the frequency of watering the soil increases so that the garlic can collect more moisture before the onset of frost.
You can not plant garlic in the shade. Plots that are too deep below the rest of the garden will cause the crop to die.
